Cuomo's school aid plan shocks schools

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget proposal shows how disconnected the state is from the plight of school districts, shocked school officials said Wednesday.

Meghan E. Murphy

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget proposal shows how disconnected the state is from the plight of school districts, shocked school officials said Wednesday.

Cuomo announced Tuesday he is seeking $1.5 billion in cuts to school aid for 2011-12, which would average a 7.3 percent hit statewide. Mid-Hudson leaders Wednesday reacted with hopelessness and frustration to what amounts to an almost $80 million cut to local schools, an average 11 percent decrease in the region.

"He's going to be responsible for setting back the education program in this state 10 years," Pine Bush schools Superintendent Philip Steinberg said. In the past two years, Pine Bush has lost almost $12 million, or about 27 percent, of its state school aid.

Cuomo said districts should negotiate employee concessions, such as wage freezes and higher health-care contributions, use fund balances and look at administrator salaries.

"This budget was to close a $10 billion deficit and we can't balance that without looking for reductions in a lot of different areas, and the biggest cost drivers are education and Medicaid. That's reality," said Eric Chris, a governor's budget office spokesman.

Steinberg said while Cuomo references runaway spending, districts have been cost-cutting for two years.

Warwick school board President Dave Eaton agreed Cuomo's budget plan didn't seem to grasp the devastation this type of aid cut could cause.

"There's such a huge disconnect," Eaton said. "Everybody talks about how we have to make education so important in America, and here we are dismantling a really good school system."

Warwick already has created budget scenarios that presume closing an elementary school, and laying off between 50 and 70 employees. Cuomo's proposal would force even deeper cuts, Eaton said.

In Port Jervis, which escaped layoffs last year, district business administrator Lorrie Case expects the state aid cuts could cause up to 40 layoffs. "As far as I'm concerned it's really Draconian," Case said.

Offering some alternatives Cuomo might pursue, Steinberg called for mandate relief, a cap on district pension contributions and rolling back state special education requirements that go beyond federal requirements. Chris said that Cuomo is committed to changing the way the state does business and providing relief from burdensome laws.

mmurphy@th-record.com

Here is a comparison between the proposed budget for aid to schools in dollars for 2011-12 and what that aid is currently.*